Anaheim Mighty Ducks 2005-2006

TEAM NAME: Anaheim Mighty Ducks

TEAM PAYROLL: $35,581,500

GENERAL MANAGER: Brian Burke 1st season as team gm

HEAD COACH: Randy Carlyle 1st season as head coach

FORGOTTEN MOVES: August 16th 2004 Trading Vaclav Prospal back to Tampa bay for a second round pick. This is if looked at back then wasn’t that smart for the ducks. If you looked at it now it was a brilliant move by the ducks. Acquiring a high draft pick and dumping 2.5 million in salary that was later used to sign Scott Niedermayer.

September 15h 2004 Resigning of Corey Perry and Ryan Getzlaf. When these players were resigned ducks fans had to be ecstatic because these are 2 of the best prospects in the Nhl today and they proved it on the London knights.

TEAM MODE: right now Anaheim is in Playoff Run Mode. After getting a top D man in Scott Niedermayer and a solid line mate for Federov in Selanne. This team is destined to go back to the playoffs this year. With this being the new Nhl and a lot more scoring Anaheim may be one of the few teams to take the league by surprise. On paper they may be a one-line team with niedermayer-federov-selanne, but if they bring up Perry Or Getzlaf they can surprise some teams and maybe be in the top 5 for goals scored in the western conference. The New Nhl is exactly what Anaheim needed and for them not to succeed in it would be a miracle if that happened.

TO TAKE CHARGE!: Taking Charge I can see Scott Niedermayer by far taking charge on the defence. All though Anaheim has a solid d. No one is close to Niedermayer realisticly. On Offence that’s a tough one but I think Federov with Selanne can do a lot of damage to opposing teams. Selanne is back to full health. I honestly think that J.S Giguere can get back to his old form from 2003 and will lead Anaheim back to the playoffs. However Going to the western conference finals will be a challenge in what I think is a much tougher western conference.

ON THE RUSH (OFFENSE): The offense for the Anaheim might ducks is not as strong as some other power houses in the west (van,col,cal etc…) but it is the strongest it has been since Kariya and Selanne were together. You have Sergei Federov a dependable 60 point player regardless of his team. Teemu Selanne a risk considering his progress has gone down year after year but he is apparently 100% healthy. Sykora a nice 25 goal scorer in the new nhl. Rob Niedermayer who should have a breakthrough year. An excellent power play quarterback in Scott Niedermayer, and the Anaheim power play looks more dangerous then its ever been. With Star Prospects Corey Perry, Ryan Getzlaf and Johnathon Hedstrom (has an outside shot to make the team), Anaheim has some dangerous prospects that can shine right away. Overall Anaheim is strong on offence and I look

COVERING THE D-ZONE: The defence for Anaheim is one of the best I have seen in years. Yes it is mainly because of Scott Niedermayer. With 2 potential 30-50 point offensive defensemen in Niedermayer and Ozolinsh (yes im going out on a limb saying that) the defence for Anaheim is going to have some fun with the long passes. Carney and Salei are 2 defensive defensemen that will give Giguere a few blocked shots each game. Overall this a solid d that can shine or just play like garbage with the new rules.

GUARDING THE NET: Jean Sebastien Giguere is the #1 goalie in Anaheim with Iyla Bryzgalov as the backup. J.S Giguere and Ilya Bryzgalov will need time to adjust to the rules, the goalie equipment etc. Giguere I believe will improve from last year enough to get the team to the playoffs.

TALKING ABOUT MY GENERATION!: Anaheim is a team that has a lot of depth for prospects.

For Forwards: They Have Corey Perry, Ryan Getzlaf, Bobby Ryan, Johnathon Hedstrom. These three players I expect to be the main 4 guys for the forwards for many years to come. All 4 have offensive talent with the sky as the limit. These four players will likely be whom the team builds around for forwards in the future years. There Defence is not as good as the forwards though but good none the less. Led By Ladislav Smid as the top defensemen prospect I expect him to be anchoring the Ducks Defence for many years to come and with time could turn out to be a great two way player. All he really needs to do is bulk up a bit.

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PROJECTED LINES:

Forwards

Line #1 R.Niedermayer – federov- selanne

Line #2 hedstrom – lupul – sykora

Line #3 federok – mcdonald – perry

Line #4 Kunitz –Pahlsson – getzlaf

Defence

Pairing #1 niedermayer – carney

pairing #2 ozolinsh – salei

pairing #3 Vishnevski – Marshall

Goalies: starter: J.S Giguere

Back Up: I. Bryzgalov

EXPECTATIONS: In the western conference there is no arguing that there is no dominant team to lead the conference. Colorado Dallas and Detroit all lost key players and all the small market teams got key players. So In the western conference it is pretty and any team can surprise. For Anaheim they are playoff team expected 5-9th in the western conference.

PROJECTED: On Paper right now the ducks are better than last season easily. They have a lot more scoring with adding Niedermayer and Selanne(I think he will surprise this year). And their defence like normal is solid none the less. Right now most people would expect 7th – 10th for the ducks. Last year San Jose took 3rd in the west by surprise with not many people noticing. I think Anaheim has a very good shot at doing that same thing. Taking first for the division while the world is focused every where else. In their division its looking very easy for Anaheim to take first. Dallas made one decent move in the off season getting martin Skoula. Phoenix got Curtis joseph, Nedved, Ricci, Odonnel and Hull. So Phoenix took strides like Anaheim to get better. San Jose stayed roughly the same. Los Angeles lost Palffy, Allison, Deadmarsh but got Roenick (near the end of career) Demitra and craig conroy.

So for the pacific division heres my prediction.

1st San Jose It’s a toss up here but it will be very close. 2 words why San Jose will take it Evgeni Nabokov. (1st –4th in conference like said could be surprise from Anaheim)

2nd Anaheim Just edging out Dallas and phoenix. Dallas is a team that is aging and fast and they cant hope for turco to carry the whole team. Phoenix has improved quite a bit but they don’t have a #1 d man to take charge. (4th-9th in conference)

3rd Phoenix edging out Dallas by 3-4 points at most. Phoenix I think just has a better team overall then Dallas. They have youth for forwards and some good veterans. Defence however is questionable and Curtis Joseph will be facing a lot of shots unless the d steps there play up this year. (6th-9th in conference)

4th Dallas. There team is too old to compete they need some good reliable youth. (8th-12th in conference)

5th Los Angeles 1 word says why. Goaltending (13-15th for them In conference)


9 Responses to Anaheim Mighty Ducks 2005-2006

  1. 19AVSFANFoLIFE19 says:

    i just thought i would be the first one to post for my team.

  2. mikster says:

    Hehe, sure thing. This column belongs to you. You did a good job.

    I actually screwed up the order. I should have started with Vancouver, that way it would be in alphabetical order starting with the Ducks.

    But, it’s all good. Thanks for a good effort!

  3. jonnybnimble says:

    here’s where you’re wrong… giguere will not improve enough.. he will get lit up. As for where they end up, well unless niedermeyer saves the lack of goaltending and federov helps with the offence, i see them on the bottom with phoenix and dallas battling for second last.

  4. Hanzo says:

    I agree with you on some points. The D is looking great. Not many team have offensive d-men like Niedermayer and Ozolinsh. But they’ll need them pretty badly because they totally miss depth up front. Beside Fed, Selanne and Sykora, they’re is nothing to be excited. Ok probably that some youngster are going to lit up but at this point it’s a couple of “If”. Ok, i’ll admit that Joffrey Lupul is going to have a good year.

    For JS Giguere, he’s one of the goalie that will have difficulty to adjust to new equipment size. I mean, he always remind me of the MIchelin guy. He’s a angle goalie and he’s going to cover a lot less.

  5. 19AVSFANFoLIFE19 says:

    thats why i volunteered to write my opinion and you think giguere will get lit up thats funny cause now he has D in front of him. he will lead this team to the playoffs.

  6. 19AVSFANFoLIFE19 says:

    he just like all will need there time but i think he will get this team to the playoffs

  7. Hanzo says:

    i’m pretty sure they will too, but it’s only because the south west is the weakest division in the Western Conference

  8. WestcoastbiasJason says:

    I might be blind but….why is there no kings preview. Just wondering.

  9. WestcoastbiasJason says:

    By the way, Phoenix and Dallas are AWEFUL. There is no way in hell that they are finishing ahead of the Kings (barring injuries). And I am not sold on Anaheim, they lack the depth of teams like San Jose and LA.

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